We’ve been working really hard and spending money preparing Calliste for our summer vacations, finally we are ready to go. Our dateline to leave was 20th Jun, but we made it ahead of time! BTW, the dateline is fixed by us not wanting to register Calliste in Washington because of the 9% state import tax. … That is just difficult for us to wanna pay, so we had to leave in 60 days from her launching date.

8th June 1600hrs, we pulled away from Port Hadlock to anchor outside Port Townsend, just a short 1hr motoring trip away.

9th June 0500hrs, pulled into Port Townsend Haven marina fuel dock. There is a free tie up for 30 minutes for boaters to load/unload, get water and pump holding tanks.

0600hrs, we are off! It is almost critical that we leave at this time, so that we could clear the most difficult part of this passage in the best of current and wind conditions. I studied the current flow, wind direction, observe weather for abnormal signs, listened to local old salts…. before coming up with this plan.

0700hrs, crossing the Admiralty straits over to Whidbey Island. So far so good. 0800hrs, wind is still slack but we are getting some strange wave action. Not too serious, just a little side slap every few minutes. We’ve been thru much worse in the Balabac strait between Palawan and Kudat. According to legends, this crossing is nasty when 20kn wind kick up waves at opposing current. It was 6ft standing waves just a few days ago.

Rich housing on Brown Island, Friday Hbr

1000hrs, passing Deception Pass as we head north to Lopez Island. Waves are settling down nicely. 1200hrs, we passed into some narrow opening into what look like short version of Phang Nga bay. Beautiful.

1300hrs, anchor down at Mud Bay. We found a spot just to ourselves, in front of a huge building on a huge property. We are taking it easy and doing only 30miles each day…

The smartest Harbor Seal. He does tricks for food.

10th June 0900hrs, launched kayaks, off to explore. Lots of signs posted to not authorize us to land on the private beach. .. and a security personal came out to re inform us that landing is not allowed. .. okay, some big shot own this whole peninsular… okay we got the picture, no landing… just paddling along the shoreline is okay.

1200hrs, back on board, anchor up and off to a more interesting place. 1430hrs, anchor down in cove north of Friday Harbor. It was 12 miles only!? 1800hrs, launch kayaks and go into town. Marina closed, and I expect most businesses are closed too. Surprise! Kings’ Grocery was open.

2000hrs, night on board Calliste at Fridays is not bad at all… but starting from 0700hrs, ferries come in every hour and we roll with it, then seaplanes land every 30mins… not the most fun, but we’ll manage.

Seaplanes galore at Friday Hbr.

11th June 1100hrs, paddling into dinghy dock. Port of Friday Harbor marina allows 4 hrs tie up for dinghies/kayaks. I needed to see the Seafood Market at the pier and the Harbor Seal mascot was in today to greet us… The goods on display and prices were not attractive, but then we discover that most things are more expensive on quaint little islands. Still, we enjoyed a expensive fish and chips and seafood platter at the Hungry Clam… We decided over lunch to head out and check out the very popular Sucia Islands. Just like that, we make plans and detours as we like… it feels so decadent to have so many options and we can do unscheduled stops… we are getting used to that.

Driftwood and us at Echo bay.

1500hrs, back on board after checking out the seaplanes at Friday Hbr. An unexpected South Easterly 20 kns and current against us all 15 miles. 1830hrs, our hopes to anchor in Fossil bay was dashed. Too many boats are in there already. 1920hrs, anchor down at Echo bay. Wind is down to 5, gusting 10, but rolls come right into the bay, making it uncomfortable.

Calliste in scenic Sucia Islands

12th June 1100hrs, off to shore exploration. Sure am happy that we made the trip. I am a rock gawker from way back!

Wind carved rocks on Sucia.

1330hrs, heading back to Calliste was a struggle against gusting winds and sloppy waters. We decided that we didn’t want to spend another night rolling around, so we headed back to Fridays. 1430hrs, up anchor. This time we have a great current boost! 1700hrs, we are back already.

13th June (Its a SATURDAY)… 0800hrs, anchors up and headed to the fuel dock. Got 2 jugs and off we go. This time we are headed for Bedwell Hbr, BC, Canada. … and we made sure that we have no fresh veggies, no alcohol and no tobacco. … TBC.